Pipe cutter



Oct. 30, 1951 y Original Filed May l5, 1940 C. R. EDWARDS PIPE CUTTER 5 Sheets-Sheet l Cannes l2. Eowmzos MMM JM Oct. 30, 1951 c. R. EDWARDS x PIPE CUTTER 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed May 13, 1940 CHARLES R. EDWARDS,

Oct. 30, 1951 Q R, EDWARDS 2,572,997

PIPE CUTTER 5 sheets-sheet s Original Filed May 13, 1940 Patented Oct. 30, 1951 PIPE CUTTER Charles R. Edwards, Houston, Tex.; Frances Robertha Edwards eXecutrix-of said Charles R.

Edwards, deceased Original application May V13, 1940, Serial No.

334,947, now Patent No. 2,394,759, dated February 12, 1946.

Divided and this application June 11, 1945, Serial No. 598,810

9 Claims.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in means for recovering elements from well bores.

In the well art, it is well known that in the drilling vand completion of wells, pipe, in one form or another, is substantially at all times extending into the well bore. During the actual drilling, the drill Lstem or pipe, which is made up of sections ,connected vby coupling collars, has the drill bit mounted on `its vlower end and is rotatable so as to rotate the bit .and perform the drilling operation.

After the well is drilled in, well tubing and cas- .ing are disposed within the well bore and, of course, remain .therein so long as the well is producing. The pipe extending into the well bore may separate, collapse or for other reasons, Vmay fall downwardly in the bore to the bottom thereof; or the wall of the bore may cave in and rrnly lodge the pipe, or a portion thereof, within the bore. When any of the foregoing occurs, it is necessary that the pipe `*be removed or lished out from the -bore before the well operations may continue and manifestly, such removal, particularly Where the .pipe is firmly lodged or stuck within the bore, creates -quite a problem.

It is, therefore, one object of this invention to provide an improved means for recovering and removing pipe, tubing, casing and other objects which may have become lodged, or which may have fallen downwardly, within a well bore.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved means, which means is operable after effecting a removal of the unlodged or free portion of the pipe, and involves cutting the lodged portion of the pipe into sections by means of an outside cutter, whereby said lodged portion may be removed from the bore.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved cutter having a positive driven feeding means operable to be released instantly, and means to drive the cutter faster toward the pipe at fthe beginning of the `cut rather than when the cutting load increases due to a wider cut.

A construction designed to vcarry out the invention will be hereinafter described, together with other features of the invention.

The invention will be more readily understood from a read-ing of the following specification and by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which an example of the invention is shown, and wherein:

Fig. 1 is -a view, in elevation, showing an outside pipe cutter, constructed in accordance with the invention, the surrounding casing being shown in section.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged, vertical sectional view of the -top portion of an outside cutter, constructed in accordance with the elevation,

Fig. 3 is a continuation of Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is a horizontal cross-sectional view taken on 'the vline 9 9 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 5 is an enlarged isometrical View, showing the cutting knife,

Fig. 6 is a horizontal cross-sectional view taken on the line l I-H of Fig. 3,

Fig. 7 is an enlarged isometrical View, showing the guide and holder for the cutting blade,

Fig. 8 is a horizontal cross-sectional view taken on the line l3-I3 ofFig. 3,

Fig. 9 is a plan view of the guide buttons for the knives,

Fig. 10 is a horizontal cross-sectional View taken on the line l5l 5 of Fig. 9,

Fig. l1 is an enlarged View, partly in elevation and partly in section, of a portion of the outside cutter, showing the knife in its retracted position,

Fig. 12 is a View similar to Fig. 11, showing how the 'knives move to their cutting positions.

Itis pointed out that often the pipe is dropped Yand bent into the shape of an elongated corkscrewior damaged so that it is impossible to use an inside cutter. In this event, therevhas been provided an improved outside cutter, which may be used if 'the stuck pipe can be Vwashed over for even a few feet vat a time. This tool is run on a `string :of tubing or pipe and telescopes over the stuck pipe. As can be seen, an outside cutter will be unable to go below the point at which the pipe is stuck 'and cut the pipe, while an inside cutter, if the -pipe lis not bent or clogged, can go below the vpoint at which the pipe is Stuck.

An outside cutter 298 is inserted over the stuck pipe 360 (Figs. 1, 2 and 3) ,said pipe sliding up into .the cutter and into the pipe 299 which is attached to the upper end of the outside cutter (Fig.

1). rThe cutter 290 is provided with a sectional housing comprising upper portion `300 which is connected to a central portion 30l, which in turn is connected to a lower portion 302. The upper end '309 of said housing is internally screwyi'lhreaded so as to receive an adapter 303. The lower Vend of said adapter overhangs the bore 304 of the housing 300 to form a shoulder 305. The bore 304 is reduced to form an inwardly extending shoulder 300- used as a stop to limit the downward travel of a gripping means SIG. Below said shoulder 396 the bore 304 is increased at 301, and

'below said portion 301 said bore is enlarged further to form a stop shoulder to limit the upward travel of the vslip seat SI2. The lower end 308 of the housing 300 is internally screw-threaded so as to receive the upper externally screw-threaded end 303 of the intermediate housing 39|.

Referring now to Fig. 2, it will be seen that the bore of the housing 30| is slightly reduced and forms a shoulder 3|0. A plurality of thrust rings 3| I rest on said shoulder and support the enlarged slip seat SI2 of the mandrel 3I3. The mandrel 3I3 movably fits within the housing 30|, and a clearance is provided between said mandrel and said housing. The upper enlarged end 3|2 is inwardly and downwardly tapered at 3I4 to form a slip seat which is provided with a plurality of inwardly extending keys 3|5. Confined between the head 3I2 and the shoulder 305 of the adapter 303 is a slip or gripping means.3|6. Said gripping means is provided with a plurality of slots 3H so as to form a plurality of upwardly-extending nngers 3|8 and a plurality of downwardly-extending ngers 3 I 9. provided with wickers or a plurality of sharp grooves 320 on the inner surfaces thereof. These grooves, which are formed like threads, are used as a second form of release in case of a broken nger. The upper end of said gripping means is surrounded by a plurality of springs 32| which urge the fingers together. The lower lingers 3I9 depend upon and conform to the tapered surface 3 I 4 to move the fingers inwardly so that they may grip a pipe or the like. Obviously, when the lower end of the fingers are resting upon the keys 3I5, they cannot be brought together so as to grip a pine; but, when said gripping means is rotated so that the keys 3I5 will enter the slots 3H, the tapered portion will squeeze the ngers together and thereby grip a pipe that may be conned within said gripping means.

The mandrel 3I3 extends downwardly, and is provided with a plurality of annular grooves 322 on its outer surface which mate with a plurality of complementary annular grooves 323 in the inner surface of the housing 30| (see top of Fig. 3). The mandrel 3|3 has its lower portion vertically split for a distance; the splits extending somewhat above and also below the grooves'322 and the internal threads of the control, so as to permit radial expansion and contraction of thergrooved portion of said control mandrel, thereby forming a split feed nut. The bore of the housing 30| is reduced below said grooves 323, and is externally screw-threaded at 324.

The lower inner surface of the mandrel 3| 3 is screw-threaded at 325 opposite the grooves i 322 so as to permit said radial expansion and contraction to engage and disengage these threads 325 with the threads 321 of the tubular feeding'means V326. Said screw-threads are nne so as to act as feed threads. The threaded portions of the mandrel 3|3 are terminated near its lowerend. The threads 321 of the feeding means 326 also terminate at this point, but extend upwardly to the upper end of said feeding means. Saidmeans 326 extends through housing 30| into housing 302 and has its outer periphery enlarged at 328, and is provided With a plurality of windows or openings 329 in which there is pivoted on a pin 330 a, plurality of Ytraveling guides 33| which have their lower free end 332 tapered to t against a stuck pipe. The housing 302 is attached by screw-threads to the Ylower end 324 of the housing 30| and is provided `with a plurality of cutter carrier Windows. Q13

Said fingers are each openings 333. It has its lowermost end 334 internally screw-threaded so as to receive an externally screw-threaded shoe member 335 whose bore 336 is reduced over the bore of the housing 332 to form a shoulder 331, which shoulder forms a spring seat. The lower end of said member may -be provided with a plurality of cleaning teeth 333.

The member 326 (see Fig. 3) has a number of slots formed in its lower thickened portion, forming legs that extend from a suitable distance above to down below the windows or openings 333, and are each provided with an outwardly-extending flange 333 which abuts the shoulder 340 of the housing 332 to limit the upward travel of said feeding means. The upper enlarged periphery 323 engages a shoulder 34| at the upper end of the housing 302. Lying against a shoulder stop on the guide 33|, which is mounted in the means 326, is a rectangular-shaped elongated push rod 352. One of said push rods lies in a vertical groove between each of said guides 33| and the housing 392. The upper ends of said rods bea-r against the shoulder on the rib 343, which rib is bent inwardly so as to surround the upper curved end of the guide and so as to form a retainer at the upper end of the guide. The lowermost ends of said push rods 342 abut a retaining ring 344. Confined between the retaining ring 344 and the shoulder 331 of the shoe 335, is a coil spring 345, which exerts an upward pressure on the retaining' ring 365 which in turn acts upwardly on the push rods 342 and the guide shoulder 343, thereby resiliently holding said guides in their retracted positions. A pair of lugs 346 (Fig. 3) is provided on the outer surd face of each of said guides and engage within outwardly-extending side pockets 3M provided in the inner surface of the housing 362. Thus, as said mandrel, guides, and rods are moved downwardly, the lugs will slide out of said pockets and force the dogs in toward the center of the device. Below said guides, the mandrel 326 is provided with aV plurality of legs to 'form' the slots or long openings 346 which correspond in width, but are longer, and match with the side walls of the openings 333 in thehousing 302. Within the openings 348 and 333 isa cutting ase sembly 349.

Pivoted within the housing 392 is a knife holder' 35|?I which carries a cutting knife 35|. Said knife holder, as shown in Fig. 5, has an outwardly tapered opening 352 in which the knife 35| lies. Said holder is provided with a plurality of set screws 353 for adjusting and holding the cutting member 35|. Said holder is also provided with a plurality of openings 354 on the sides thereof for receiving a button gear 355 (see Figs. 8 and 9) which is held within said opening by a screwthreaded pin 356. The exposed surface of the button is provided with a plurality of outwardly extending nns or Webs 351. It has been found preferable to have one of saidvbuttons on each side of the holder, howeverany suitable number may be used. The side edges of the windows or openings 348 of the member 323 are provided with a plurality of projecting ns or webs 353 which are provided with a suitable space 359 therebetween, so as to allow the webs 357 to pass therethrough. The space between the webs 35i'y is also large enough to allow the webs 358 to pass therethrough. When the device is assembled and is ready to run into the hole, the Webs 357 andv 358 are in the position shown in Fig. 8. g

operation, a pipe 299 is attached to the upper end of the adapter 3D3 fand the device lowered into the well `which telescopes the pipe '3313, as shown in Fig. y1. Said pipe will lpass up through said tool and through the gripping lmeans 3H;` to the lowermost point that the tool '298 can go, and at that point the dev-ice is slightly rotated and raised so as to remove the slips or gripping means 3|6 from the Akeys 3|:5. Slight rotation Amay be necessary to remove vsaid gripping means from said wings. The gripping means will have a frictional engagement with the Apipe 330, and as the tool is v'pulled upwardly, the gripping means -will relatively `slide downwardly and enga-ge in the taperedportion 3|-4 'of the mandrel 3|3 and force said gripping means inwardly, `thereby rmly gripping the pipe. When this ldownward pressure is app-lied "to the mandrel 3 I3, the teeth formed by the grooves 322 will be forced inwardly within the grooves 323 of the housing 310, land the screw-threads, due to the downward pressure, will iirmly engage the threads 325 of the mandrel 3|3 into the threads 321 of the feeding means 326. Thus, as the pipe 299 is rotated, the outer housings 300, 39| 'and 302 will rotate. The mandrel 3|3 rand the slip 3| 6 will be locked to the pipe 360 so that the same will not rotate due to the gripping means engaging the tapered portion between the keys 3|5.

As the housing is rotated, the threads 321 and 325 will begin to move the feeding means 325 downwardly. The lug 346 will Ybegin to move the guides 33| inwardly, Iand the webs 35"'8 will begin to move through the webs 351 of the button attached to the holder 350, and thereby move lsaid holder inwardly, obviously carrying the knife 35| therewith. The spring 345 will be compressed after the -cutting operation is-completed, at which time the pipe 299 will turn easier to advise the operator that the cut is complete and will be in the position shown in Fig. 12. The upper tapered portion 36| of the holder will contact the pipe 390 as the cut is being completed so as to help keep the same in alinement. The dogs 33| will also slidably engage the pipe so that it will be held firmly in place, while the out is being made, and will act to center said pipe with the tool.

In the event the operator desires to stop cutting at any time during the operation, he may slack 01T and release his gripping means by bringing the offsets in the slips down on the keys 3|5 which will permit the gripping means to spread and thereby relieve the down pressure on the mandrel 3|3 and which will allow the teeth r322 to spring back into the grooves 323 and disengage the threads; and the spring 345 will move the member 326 upwardly, thereby retracting the holder and knife and allowing the guides 33| to spring back into their retracted positions, as is shown in Fig. 3. Thus it can be seen that the cut may be stopped at any point, and also that a tension is held upon said pipe at all times.

Often, when the cutting of the pipe is almost completed, the pipe will twist and possibly be wedged, within many of the old type cutters, so that it cannot be retracted. Also, in many cases where the old-type cutters are used, the out cannot be finished. The guides 33| and the tapered portion 35| of the holders 350 hold said pipe so that it cannot twist, and therefore the cut can be iinished as desired.

Various changes, alterations and modifications may be made in the herein described elements,

'6 as to Asize, shape and arrangement, within v'the scope of the appended claims.

This application is a division of my co-pending application, ASerial No.-334,941, filed May 13, 1940,

Yfor Methods and Means for Recovering Elements From Well Bores, now Patent No. 2,394,759, issued February l2, 1946.

Other modes `of applying the principle of my invention may be employed instead of the one explained, change being made as regards the mechanism 'herein disclosed, provided the means 'stated by any of the following `claims or the equivalent `of such stated means be employed.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as 'my invention:

l. An outside pipe cutting tool comprising an outer housing, a pipe gripping means releasably interlocked with an upper mandrel, a lower mandrel mounted within said housing said upper mandrel being connected to said lower mandrel by a releasable screw-threaded connection, cutter members pivoted to said housing and operable upon axial movement of said lower mandrel with respect to said housing, said axial movement being caused by rotary movement of the housing when the gripping means and upper mandrel are interlocked.

2. An outside pipe cutting tool comprising an outer housing, a pipe gripping means releasably interlocked with an upper mandrel, a lower mandrel mounted within said housing said upper mandrel being connected to said lower mandrel by a releasable screw-threaded connection, cut- 'ter members pivoted to said housing and operable upon axial movement of said lower mandrel with respect to said housing, said pipe gripping means being slidably mounted in said housing and comprising a cylinder having axially spaced sets of gripping teeth, said axial movement being caused by rotary movement of the housing when the gripping means and upper mandrel are interlocked.

l3. An outside pipe cutting tool comprising an outer housing, a pipe gripping means releasably interlocked with an upper mandrel, a lower mandrel mounted within said housing said upper mandrel being connected to said lower mandrel by a releasable screw-threaded connection, cutter members pi'voted to said housing and operable upon axial movement of said lower mandrel with respect to said housing, said pipe gripping means being slidably mounted in said housing and comprising a cylinder having axially spaced sets of gripping teeth, there being means on the interior of said upper mandrel to force one set of said teeth inwardly when said mandrel is moved with respect to said pipe gripping means, said axial movement being caused by rotary movement of the housing when the gripping means and upper mandrel are interlocked 4. An outside pipe cutting tool comprising an outer housing, a pipe gripping means releasably interlocked with an upper mandrel, a lower mandrel mounted within said housing, cutter members pivcted to said housing and operable upon axial movement of said lower mandrel with respect to said housing, said axial movement being caused by rotary movement of the housing when the gripping means and upper mandrel are interlocked, the lower portion of said upper mandrel being split to provide fingers, said iingers being threaded upon their interior and exterior surfaces, the threads on the interior surface of the upper mandrel engaging threads on the exterior surface of said lower mandrel.

5.An outside pipe cutting tool comprising an outer housing, a pipe gripping means mounted within said housing, an upper mandrel and a lower mandrel mounted within said housing, said upper mandrel having means thereon to cause the gripping action of said gripping means, cutter members pivoted to said housing and'operable upon axial movement of said lower mandrel with respect to said housing, the lower portion of said upper mandrel being split to provide fingers, said ngers being threaded upon their interior and exterior surfaces, the upper portion of said lower mandrel being threadedly engaged with said lingers, so that relative rotation of the upper and lower mandrel imparts said axial movement.

6. An outside pipe cutting tool comprising an outer housing, a pipe gripping means mounted within said housing, an upper mandrel and a lower mandrel mounted within said housing, cutter members pivoted to said housing and operable upon axial movement of said lower mandrel with respect to said housing means to impart said axial movement, said cutter members having buttons secured thereto, said buttons being provided with spaced webs, said webs engaging grooves in said lower mandrel.

7. An outside pipe cutting tool comprising an outer housing, a pipe gripping means mounted within said housing, an upper mandrel and a lower mandrel mounted within said housing, cutter members pivoted to said housing and operable upon axial movement of said lower mandrel with respect to said housing means to impart said axial movement, said cutter members having buttons secured thereto, said buttons being provided with spaced webs, said webs engaging grooves in said lower mandrel, said cutter members being provided with means to engage the pipe being cut upon completion of the cutting operation.

Y8. An outside pipe -cutting tool comprising an outer housing, Ia pipe gripping means releasably interlocked with an upper mandrel, a lower mandrel mounted within said housing, said upper mandrel being connected to said lower mandrel by a releasable screw-threaded connection, cutter members pivoted to said housing and operable upon axial movement of said lower mandrel with respect to said housing, said lower mandrel having pipe engaging guides pivoted thereto whereby the cutter members are centered, said axial movement being caused by rotary movement of the housing when the gripping means and upper mandrel are interlocked.

9. An outside pipe cutting tool comprising an outer housing, a pipe gripping means mounted within said housing, an upper mandrel and a lower mandrel mounted within said housing, cutter members pivoted to said housing and operable upon axial movement of said lower mandrel with respect to said housing means to im- Dart said axial movement, said lower mandrel having pipe engaging guides pivoted thereto whereby the cutter members are centered, said guides having lugs upon their exterior surfaces, which are normally seated in a depression in said housing.

y CHARLES R. EDWARDS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,638,494 Lewis et al Aug 9, 1927 1,960,337 Gilstrap et al. May 29, 1934 2,132,645 Reed Oct. 11, 1938 2,167,445 Brown July 25, 1939 2,213,049 Reed Aug. 27, 1940 2,277,580 Corothers Mar. 24, 1942 

